XMRadio Satellite Weather Has Arrived

I'm not sure I understand the discussion on DC voltage converters. I
currently have XM radio in my 28v plane, but the radio runs on 6 volts, so I
use an inverter to connect to the AC plug. Is it possible to get a 28v
cigarette lighter adaptor to cut the voltage to 6 volts directly? It would
be nice to eliminate the inverter.

The XM radio works great in the plane- CD quality stereo sound and over 100
channels with no drop outs in reception. It connected directly to my stereo
input.

Regarding weather, I'm waiting for Garmin to come up with an effective
interface with their 430/530, which is what they plan for the 1000. It'll
make the GDL 49 look like something from the stone age. The iPAQ/PC/GPS
combinations take a lot of wires and connections, as seen at OSH. Even the
Garmin reps admit that the GDL 49 left a lot to be desired.

How about satellite radio and real time weather all displayed on a Garmin
430/530 (the antennas are the same)?

"Viperdoc" wrote in message
...
I'm not sure I understand the discussion on DC voltage converters. I
currently have XM radio in my 28v plane, but the radio runs on 6 volts, so
I
use an inverter to connect to the AC plug. Is it possible to get a 28v
cigarette lighter adaptor to cut the voltage to 6 volts directly? It would
be nice to eliminate the inverter.

I'm not sure you will find one on the market. If you wanted to build it
yourself, you need to know the current flow in milliamperes (or amps) used
by the radio. That may be written on the ID plate or in the unit's specs.
For illustration, let's presume it is 150 milliamps. The supply voltage is
28 (actually closer to 32 without a load) so you need to drop 22 volts in a
resistor. You can calculate the required resistance by dividing the voltage
to drop (22) by the current flow (0.150) = 146.67 ohms. Round it up to 150.
Since it is going to dissipate energy in the form of heat, you need to know
the wattage or the product of current and voltage = 3.3 Watts. To be on the
safe side, you need to at least double that to 6.6 and round up to 10W. The
next safety feature would be an in-line fuse, but that's optional since you
can yank the connector out of the lighter socket.
Cut one of the pair of wires coming out of the connector and put the
10W, 150 ohm resistor in series. The typical night-light for the kid's
bedroom is 7.5W. Stick your finger up against one that has been on for a
couple of minutes and imagine about half that heat. That's what the
resistor is going to heat up to. The point is, keep your fingers off of it
when it's plugged in. Oh, that reminds me, don't wrap it up in foam -- the
heat needs to dissipate.

See these sites for updated info the laptop and PDA versions of WxWorx:

http://www.wxworx.com

http://www.airgator.com/Weather.htm


--
Richard Kaplan, CFII

www.flyimc.com

"Richard Kaplan" wrote in message news:d108be18406396d73f7173e630ed03bd@TeraNews.. .
See these sites for updated info the laptop and PDA versions of WxWorx:

http://www.wxworx.com

http://www.airgator.com/Weather.htm

Richard,

Do you know if the WxWorx software has provisions to accept an NMEA
GPS input from a serial port? It would be nice to see the weather
displayed track-up and relative to present position.

-Nathan

"Nathan Young" wrote in message
om...
Do you know if the WxWorx software has provisions to accept an NMEA
GPS input from a serial port? It would be nice to see the weather
displayed track-up and relative to present position.

Yes, it does indeed have this provision.. that is an extra $100 or so as a
software feature. For most handheld GPS systems you can use the NMEA/serial
cable you normally use to update your GPS database.

--
Richard Kaplan, CFII

www.flyimc.com

Thanks. Now I just wish they would answer my email about
availability, pricing, and where to order.

-Nathan


"Richard Kaplan" wrote in message news:527867a3e5debdcaa47a43662d41a518@TeraNews.. .
"Nathan Young" wrote in message
om...
Do you know if the WxWorx software has provisions to accept an NMEA
GPS input from a serial port? It would be nice to see the weather
displayed track-up and relative to present position.

Yes, it does indeed have this provision.. that is an extra $100 or so as a
software feature. For most handheld GPS systems you can use the NMEA/serial
cable you normally use to update your GPS database.

Have you been ableto obtain any hard specs on the system? The two reps I
spoke to at their both were the most clueless inndividuals I've ever seen
rep'ing a vendor at OSH. For instance, they didn't know what I meant by
"baud rate." Thus I was highly skeptical of some things they told me: that
the WxWorx radar map resolution is 1/4 mile, and that their two satellites'
radiated power is 10,000 watts.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

Clipped from a sci.space.news posting about 'Rock' and 'Roll' - the
two XM Radio satellites... 10,000 watts may not be accurate, but it
isn't too far off...


The XM "Rock" satellite has two 16.4 ft folding deployable S-band
transmit
reflectors and one X-band global receive antenna. The satellite spans
132.5
feet in length and 46.6 feet in width, with antennas fully deployed,
and has
a total spacecraft power of 18 kilowatts. To generate such high power,
each
of the satellite's two solar wings employ five panels of
high-efficiency,
dual-junction gallium arsenide solar cells developed by Spectrolab,
Inc., a
Boeing Satellite Systems subsidiary.

To provide 15 years' service, the Boeing 702 carries the flight-proven
xenon
ion propulsion system (XIPS), built by Boeing Electron Dynamics
Devices,
another Boeing Satellite Systems subsidiary, for all on-orbit
maneuvering.
The satellite carries a digital audio radio payload which features two
active transponders generating approximately 3,000 watts of radio
frequency
power, making these the most powerful commercial transponders ever
built.
Rock is operating in a geosynchronous orbit at 85 degrees West
longitude and
weighs approximately 10,284 pounds (4,666 kg) at launch.



"Dan Luke" wrote in message ...
Have you been ableto obtain any hard specs on the system? The two reps I
spoke to at their both were the most clueless inndividuals I've ever seen
rep'ing a vendor at OSH. For instance, they didn't know what I meant by
"baud rate." Thus I was highly skeptical of some things they told me: that
the WxWorx radar map resolution is 1/4 mile, and that their two satellites'
radiated power is 10,000 watts.